Backlog Data Dump...

So, I may not have as much time to write here as I used to, but I still collect various science stories from the internet that I find interesting and hope to blog about, but then they just sit in my bookmarks, which is becoming longer than a Sumo wrestler's grocery list, so here are some links to a few of the things that caught my attention:

"Barking up the wrong tree" has a fun list of a bunch of cliches and sayings with links to research on whether or not they could be true, so click here if you want to know whether or not nice guys finish last, if you can tell a lot about a man from his handshake, and if blondes have more fun.

Over at EurekAlert is a blurb about a Banaca-like oral spray that could help cut down on your susceptibility to airborne flu virus... the secret ingredient (cetylpyridinium chloride) is also a main ingredient in some non-burning mouthwashes, so using the right mouthwash frequently might also help to cut down on your flu susceptibility (though that has yet to be tested).

Apparently the guys over at Freakonomics are also fans of the band Bullets for My Valentine becaue they posted this podcast about guns in America just this past Valentine's Day.  Despite the interesting timing of the piece, no word yet as to whether Cupid has traded in his bow and arrow for a Mac-10.

And over at The Scientist is a story about how the males of a certain species of sea slug can actually detach their penises after mating (likely to prevent other potential suitors from getting in there and competing with their sperm), and then amazingly they can grow a new penis the next day.  I believe some of the credit for the discovery should go to early 90's rockers King Missile who first postulated the possibility of such a phenomenon in their song "Detachable Penis"